Chapter 104: Winds of Freedom

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...

"Damn it! Men, with me! We're throwing that deviant back in his cell!" Hannyabal barked, rallying Domino, Sadi-chan, and the other guards, eager to make a name for himself and bolster his chances of becoming Warden.

But they were already too late. Ivankov and his Newkama Land followers were on the opposite side of Level One. With Ian and Kaido's earth-shattering battle raging in the center, along with that gaping hole in the floor, reaching them in time was impossible. They'd already made it to the area between Level One, the Crimson Hell, and Level Two, the Beasts Hell. Any attempt to apprehend them now would be futile.

"It's fine. They won't get far with Magellan's Venom Devil blanketing the level," Hannyabal said, trying to reassure himself and the others. Perhaps he could still claim some credit when they inevitably collapsed from the poison.

A cloud of vibrant azure, deeper and richer than any ocean, spread across Level One, giving the prison floor an eerie, almost dreamlike quality. But beneath this beautiful facade pulsed a lethal threat: Magellan's Venom Devil, a toxic cloud capable of paralyzing anyone who so much as brushed against it.

A prisoner who strayed too close learned this the hard way, collapsing instantly, his body seizing as he desperately called out to Ivankov, the flamboyant, androgynous figure with the gravity-defying afro, for help.

"Hah! Poisoned already? Even I couldn't handle that. It's back to your cell for you!" Hannyabal crowed. Ivankov responded with exaggerated distress, "Oh dear! Our comrade has fallen! Should we abandon him? I don't want to, but it seems we have no choice! Farewell!"

"Don't worry about me, Ivankov-sama…" the afflicted prisoner wailed dramatically, feigning heartbreaking resignation, a performance that nearly moved Ivankov to tears. Then, suddenly, Ivankov's eyes went wide, and a triumphant yell ripped from his throat.

"Tension Hormones! Healing Hormones!" With a flick of his wrist, needles shot out from his fingertips, piercing the fallen prisoner's skin and injecting a potent concoction of hormones.

Almost immediately, the prisoner sprang to his feet, completely revitalized, even finding the energy to jeer at the guards.

"We're not going down that easily, you fools!"

The sight nearly made Magellan cough up blood. He'd completely forgotten about Ivankov's Horu Horu no Mi, the Devil Fruit that granted him control over hormones, the ability to manipulate the human body from the inside out.

The Healing Hormones could even offer a chance of recovery from otherwise terminal illnesses, though at the cost of a portion of the patient's lifespan, depending on the severity.

The Tension Hormones acted as a potent stimulant, eliminating fatigue entirely, but leaving the user utterly drained once the effects wore off. Ivankov could also control gender hormones, shifting people between male and female forms at will.

"It doesn't matter if they resist the Venom Devil," Hannyabal huffed, his confidence quickly returning. "Impel Down is in the Calm Belt, surrounded by Sea Kings. The prison and the warships are coated in seastone. And since the warships have already left, they're trapped. There's no escape for them today!"

Hannyabal's logic was sound. Before engaging Kaido, Magellan had ordered all nearby Marine ships to withdraw, minimizing the risk of collateral damage. This had effectively turned Impel Down into an isolated island. Even if the prisoners made it past the Venom Devil, they would have no way to leave.

But Magellan had made one critical oversight. He'd assumed all the warships had departed. Just as Hannyabal finished speaking, a lone vessel appeared on the horizon, rapidly closing the distance to Impel Down.

A Marine officer at the helm steered the ship towards the prison. A similar incident had played out during Luffy's escape. Magellan, aiming to isolate Impel Down, had ordered all supply ships to withdraw.

Ivankov's followers had also been worried about their escape route, making the ship's appearance a stroke of incredible luck. Hannyabal nearly choked. He'd been so busy reassuring everyone else, he hadn't considered this possibility. It was as if he'd poisoned himself with his own words.

"It's fine…" Hannyabal started to speak again, but Saldeath, the impish jailer, cut him off with a sharp jab to the head. "Idiot! Shut up! Are you working with them? Now that I think about it, Ivankov's disappearance is probably your fault, too!"

"I didn't…" Hannyabal mumbled, rubbing his head.

"Who authorized that ship?! I'll have them court-martialed!" Magellan bellowed, his rage incandescent. Ivankov wasn't just any escaped prisoner; he had connections to Monkey D. Dragon, a criminal whose threat level rivaled that of Gol D. Roger himself.

One had ushered in the Great Pirate Era, the other aimed to tear down the World Government.

"Don't worry, my lovelies! The winds of freedom are blowing!" Ivankov cried, striking a dramatic pose.

As if summoned by his words, a gentle breeze rustled through the chaotic scene, carrying a promise of liberation. The Marine officer on the approaching warship ripped off his uniform, revealing a familiar face marked by a telltale sandal print. He was a man of commanding presence, his features set in a serious expression.

The escaped prisoners gasped, then erupted in joyous shouts.

...

"It's Monkey D. Dragon! He planned this all along! I thought I'd never see you again!"

Ivankov rushed forward and engulfed Dragon in a massive bear hug, nearly squeezing the life out of him.

"Missed me, Dragon?"

"You too, Ivankov. It has been a while."

Dragon's green cloak billowed around him, his eyes filled with a complex mixture of emotion.

"Damn it! Kaido's not even dealt with yet, and now we have another Emperor-level threat!" Magellan raged. Ian was still locked in combat with Kaido, and now Dragon, leader of the Revolutionary Army, a force whose influence and reach rivaled any of the Yonko, had arrived.

Fujitora, offered Magellan a gentle smile.

"So that's Dragon… The revolutionary seeking to overthrow the World Government. A man driven by ambition and a thirst for vengeance."

Fujitora's blind eyes opened slightly, revealing only white. His Observation Haki painted a different picture, though. The aura he sensed from Dragon was surprisingly calm and gentle.

Like his power, the winds of freedom.

He didn't seem like a truly evil man. Fujitora himself harbored reservations about the World Government's rule. The suffering of the common people was undeniable proof of its failings.

"Even with two Admiral-level fighters present, capturing him would be a significant challenge. Are we truly going to let him escape?" Magellan asked, his voice laced with frustration and defeat. A Warlord, a legendary pirate, a Yonko, and now the world's most wanted man, the seas were descending into utter chaos.

"We have no choice. Any further fighting will only cause more damage to Impel Down. Even Marine Headquarters would struggle to contend with two Emperors at once, let alone us."

"Never give up before you've even tried. Do your best, and leave the rest to fate. You'll only regret it later otherwise."

...

As Fujitora finished speaking, a scary aura erupted from him. He drew his shirasaya in a flash, the blade a blur as he swung it several times, sending arcs of purple energy lancing skyward.

Dragon and the revolutionaries frowned, watching the blind Warlord wield his cane-sword. They braced for a devastating slash, but instead, a strange, unfamiliar power emanated from the blade. They looked up, their gazes drawn to the heavens.

The other Marines, equally perplexed, followed suit. The sky was a clear, unbroken blue.

Then, a pinpoint of light appeared in the blue expanse, growing rapidly brighter as it hurtled towards the earth. A meteor. Everyone present froze, their eyes widening in disbelief.

"A meteor? Is he serious?!"

Although it appeared relatively small, the impact of a meteor, unimpeded, would be catastrophic, easily capable of obliterating half the island and leveling Impel Down.

Then, a wave of stark terror washed over them. Those who were standing stumbled and fell to their knees, their faces draining of color, sweat beading on their foreheads. Their eyes darted about frantically, filled with a primal fear.

"What… what is happening?!"

"What in the world is that?!"

It wasn't just the prisoners; even Magellan, Hannyabal, and the other Marines stared up at the colossal meteor, now a celestial body of intimidating scale, their faces slick with cold sweat, disbelief warring with a rising panic. How could such a massive meteor appear out of thin air? And why was it falling directly towards them?

Was this the blind swordsman's doing?

"We're… we're doomed!"

"Run! Everyone, run!"

Panic seized the warship and the surrounding waters. The fleeing prisoners, shaken from their stupor, scrambled desperately for any semblance of safety. But where could they go? Surrounded by the open sea, trapped on a warship, there was nowhere to hide.

They craned their necks, gazing up at the impending doom, their legs turning to jelly, their bodies refusing to obey. It felt as if all the strength had been sucked out of them. "You… you've got to be kidding…"

Even before the meteor struck, the immense pressure radiating from it made it nearly impossible to breathe. Their eyes bulged, their faces contorted in a mask of pure terror. They had just escaped the hell of Impel Down, only to be faced with another, even more scary, demise.

"Does that guy have the power of an Admiral or a Yonko? Just who is he? Maybe only old man Whitebeard could shatter something!"

Ivankov, glancing between the sky and his comrade Dragon, whose face remained eerily impassive, swallowed hard, a bitter taste rising in his throat. He felt small, insignificant, utterly powerless. This level of force was beyond anything he or any other pirate could comprehend, let alone resist. Perhaps only Dragon…

"Hmm?" The colossal meteor, blotting out the sun, continued its inexorable descent. The sheer pressure radiating from it made breathing a struggle, the air itself seeming to thicken and compress.

The sea below buckled and sank under the meteor's immense gravitational pull.

"Is… is this a dream?"

"That's a meteor, alright. But how…?" The escaped prisoners, nearly all within the meteor's projected impact zone, stammered in disbelief. As they watched, a mixture of terror and awe painted on their faces, the monstrous rock finally struck the sea, the world seeming to buckle and groan under the force of the impact.

The colossal meteor hurtled towards their warship, the sheer scale of the event defying description. It felt as if it were impacting not just the distant sea, but the very core of their beings.

"It's not over yet! We can't just give up without a fight! Our dream is to reach for the stars, to tear down this corrupt World Government!" Dragon's eyes narrowed. Fujitora's power was unlike anything he'd ever encountered, a force that dwarfed even his own considerable abilities. 

But after a brief moment of astonishment, he rallied his comrades, his voice ringing out across the deck, infusing them with his unwavering resolve.

"He's right! With Dragon-sama leading us, what do we have to fear?! It's just a rock! We'll crush it!"

Seeing their spirits reignited, Dragon nodded, a grim satisfaction settling in his eyes. He raised his hand towards the sky, a swirling green aura erupting around him, his cloak snapping in the sudden surge of power.

"The wind… it's gone…" The thought echoed through the minds of everyone present. Across the vast expanse of the sea, the wind had vanished, leaving an eerie stillness. Only around their warship did a gentle breeze persist, a protective bubble in the unnatural calm.

"Dragon Claw Fist: Wind Breath!"

A furious gale erupted from Dragon's body, bringing the warship to a dead stop.

In the next moment, a roar tore through the sky as a massive dragon, rivaling even Kaido's in size, burst forth from Dragon, rocketing towards the falling meteor.

The meteor's fiery tail, born from its high-speed descent through the atmosphere, was instantly snuffed out by the ferocity of Dragon's wind, vanishing into nothingness.

Then, the dragon slammed into the meteor, a resounding boom echoing across the sea, dwarfing even Dragon's initial roar. Half of the meteor shattered, fragmenting into countless smaller pieces, a sight that inspired both awe and terror.

But fear still clung to them, cold and sharp. Half the meteor remained, and even the shattered fragments continued their descent, each one a potential death sentence.

"Even Dragon-sama can't stop it?" Some of the escapees had already collapsed to the deck, their faces ashen, their eyes vacant. But those with sharper minds, those who hadn't succumbed to despair, noticed something impossible. "The meteor… it's stopped in mid-air."

"This… this is just the beginning…"

...

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